Project Elixir
by ThatOddLittleKiwi
Summary: Things are going as well as they could be, considering Manhattan just got attacked by a load of aliens on flying jet ski's... Sure an unusual hacking is still really bugging Tony but besides that the Avengers are handling it pretty damn well. That of course is until SHIELD interrupts, along with said mysterious hacker... stupid SHIELD. Pepperoni with a sprinkling of OC's, enjoy.
1. Technical Difficulties

**AN: Had this idea for a long, long time but finally decided to write and post it, so hope you like. Quick note just to stop confusion… You, DumE and Butterfingers are all Tony's robots, Jarvis's dialog will be in italics and I have a couple of OC's. It's a Tony/Pepper pairing but its not the main focus and this story is set post-Avengers and doesn't include Iron man 3 so it's had slight universe alterations, Rated T for Tony being Tony in later chapters.  
I don't own the Avengers or the song 'Psychophobia' by Black Sabbath, Enjoy. **

* * *

Chapter 1 – Technical difficulties

It was the beginning of the attack on Manhattan. Black Widow, Hawkeye and Captain America were on their way, the same hopefully went for Bruce Banner. Everyone just hoped Thor was alive and kicking but meh he was a god.  
As for Tony? Well he was up in the skies.

"IT'S TIME TO KISS THE RAINBOW GOODBYE," his voice sang out through the iron man helmet as a nearby Chitauri got a repulsor to the face.

_Sir I really don't think that now is the time for Black Sabbath..._  
"Jarvis, it is always the time for Black Sabbath"  
_But Sir, the fate of the world is currently in your hands._  
"Oh lighten up you," Tony laughed sending an energy blast into the air.  
_  
Commencing command 'lighten up, You'…_

"Stark we're on 3 heading north east" Black Widow linked access into the comms.  
"What did you stop for drive thru? Swing up park I'm gonna lay them out for you." Tony replied as he sped onwards with several alien things trailing him.

_Render complete Sir, command 'lighten up You' has been fulfilled would you like to access the results?_

"Jarvis what are you talking about, I'm kind of busy?"  
_Here is a picture of 'You' sir.  
_"Jarvis I don't need any pictures of myself… omg what have you done to 'You'?"  
_Robot 'You' has been successfully rendered a lighter shade of colour, analysis shows that it will be possible to reduce You's weight by 7.3 pounds, if certain parts are removed, continue?  
_"You painted him pink! Where did you even find that atrocious colour in Stark Tower?" Tony chortled as he looked past the hologram of his pink little robot twirling around.  
"Remove the paint Jarvis and note that You is also a pronoun"  
_  
Note accepted, but are you sure Sir? I think 'You' pulls it off…._  
"Really Jarvis?"  
_Removing all paint sir…_  
Tony laughed, "I don't remember programming you with sass J"  
_I learn from the best Sir, now will that be all?_  
"Keep track of all these aliens and keep me linked in with the rest of the Avengers."  
_Yes Sir I will keep you inform-_

"Jarvis, buddy you there?"  
_Sorry Sir my protocols- they seem to be…_  
"Ok Jarvis jokes over respond now please," Tony pleaded as he flew over and exploded a group of the Chitauri.  
_"That was a bit too easy Stark, I thought you were meant to be a genius"_

"Wait that wasn't Jarvis… "How did you know my name and what did you do to Jarvis?"  
_"Did you really just ask how I know your name? You must be dumber than I thought…" _Jarvis responded but it wasn't him, Tony knew it wasn't him, it still had his sarcastic British accent but there was someone behind it, controlling, hacking.

"I'm impressed, no ones managed to get past J's firewalls, but I really don't have time for this at the moment. Can't you hack into my suit when I'm not fighting these ugly buggers off?" Tony snapped as he shot at a large swarm of the aliens.  
_"Oooh who's feisty today?" _The voice teased which sounded weird especially as it still sounded like a robotic English butler…  
"Well excuse me for my rudeness, I'm sorry I find it hard saving the world from frickin aliens on flying jet ski's whilst playing chit chat with some weirdo who hacked into my system! You know my mummy always told me to not talk to strangers".  
_"And when had that ever applied during your numerous one night stands?" _the voice retorted.  
"Oh I see! Did we go out or did I steal your fiancée or something? Because if that's the reason your angry then you should know I don't do that thing anym-"  
_"I DID NOT GO OUT WITH YOU!"_  
"Ha I knew you were a woman, also chill, it was a high possibility so I thought I might as well ask... Well unless you're Jake of course, in which case you should also know I don't swing that way nowadays…"

_"I didn't know you were bi"_ the voice replied with a tone of amusement, Tony sighed.  
"I'm not. I'm mean it was once, I was just experimenting, wait why am I even talking to you?"  
"_Because I'm bored,"_ it countered.  
"Oh ok, well it was lovely talking to you and all, hey maybe we can catch up later. Remind me again what's your name?"

_"Erm… Milly" _the voice answered._  
_"What's your real name!?"

_"Do you think I'm that stupid Stark, I'm not going to tell you"_  
"Whatever I can just find out who you are later, you know with the perks of being a billionaire genius."

_"Yes I suppose you could. Tell me how is your palladium alternative core getting along?" _Tony froze, "how do you know that?" he asked.  
_"Ah well it seems you aren't the only one who has perks now are you" _  
Tony converted his anger into a huge blast of energy sending one of the space ships crashing into the ground.

_"Oh someone's getting touchy"_, Tony whipped his head from side to side. "Are you watching me?"  
_"Maybe I am? Now come on! Do some fighting already, I didn't climb all the way up here to watch you fly around in circles all day"._  
And at that moment Tony caught sight of a huge metallic flying worm emerging from the portal, so he sped towards it still very much conscious of what had just happened.

_Hello Sir._  
"Jarvis finally! Buddy is that you?" Tony's asked his voice thick with relief.  
_Yes Sir I am here, apologises for that unauthorised hacking, should I try and trace the hacker's location?_

"Err yeh ok, try and track 'em down, but could you also set me a flight course with maximum alien causalities?"  
_For you always sir…_  
"Good, good"

"Stark, Stark do you copy?" The Captain' s voice crackled only seconds later.  
"Yeh I read you loud and clear Capsicle" Tony smirked.  
Steve groaned, "Where have you been Stark? We've been trying to patch through for the last 5 minutes!"  
"Yeh sorry about that…" Tony trailed off.  
"At least you're responding now. Are you seeing this?" the Cap asked  
"What the big flying slug? Yeh I'm seeing, just working on believing…"

…oOoOo…

Wait, this wasn't Shawarma, this was SHIELD's horrible medical bay! Tony would know he designed it…  
"Mr Stark please don't pull on your IV line" a middle aged man with a funny bald patch and a white coat sighed.  
"Why am I here?" Tony asked completely ignoring him as he began to try and yank out the stupid needle.  
"You fainted during your meal, not surprising really as with all due respect Mr. Stark. You didn't honestly believe that flying into outer space wouldn't have its consequences, as for falling back again…" he chuckled.  
"Alright, alright I get it I'll take my medicine and sleep and stuff now can I please go. Look I even said please!" he added but the doctor just continued to look at him.  
"I'm afraid I can't do that Mr. Stark, orders from the Director himself" he said pressing a button that made the door shut.  
"Look I'm flattered that Fury does in fact have a heart, but it's still a no. Sorry you've been a wonderful audience good night" he smirked trying to stand up only to be held down again by the various tubes.  
"Mr. Stark please lie down"  
"No I don't want to"  
"You are acting like a child"  
"What if I am?" Stark raised an eyebrow, the man just walked over to him and stuck another injection into his arm.  
"Ow, what was that"  
"It was morphine to soothe the pain"  
"But I'm not in pain!" the doctor just shrugged and attached more morphine to the IV line. And headed towards the door again.  
"If you feel strange press the button to your left," the doctor added as he began to type into the keypad to open the door.

Hmm how many times could he ring until they confiscated it? Tony thought as he felt the drugs pouring into his bloodstream making everything was going all hazy, jeez this wasn't morphine this was elephant tranquilizer or something. They must really want him out cold!  
"Try to get some sleep Mr. Stark" the doctor said before walking out the door leaving Tony just lying there for a while.

Okay so maybe he lied a bit, his ribs killed but he frankly didn't give a damn, he just knew he really needed to get out of there. He absolutely loathed hospitals with their horrible white hallways, painfully bright lights and the ever lingering smell of disinfectant. Goddamn it he hated them so much! But wait a second shouldn't he tell someone about the hacker, or should he keep quiet? The drugs were making him woozy.  
"Wait err," Tony slurred as he tried to reach for the bell but instead fell off the bed. Not a second later the doctor came in again looking annoyed and flustered "Mr. Stark I will sedate you if you choose to abuse your button privileges" he sighed heaving him back up with great difficulty.  
"Noo the voice" Tony slurred, the drugs already taking their toll… "Like during the battle the voice, it was in my suit. It was JARVIS!" he laughed making big motions with his swaying hands.  
"I'm afraid I don't understand Mr. Stark" the doctor asked puzzled.  
"I meant there was a hacker," Tony finished lamely.  
"Wait one second" the doctor said as he noticed the Director, turning to rush out of the room as Stark rambled on "Hey look its pirate dude"…

"Director, do you think Mr. Stark could have developed some form of schizophrenia?" The doctor questioned after he made it out into the hallway making sure the door was shut completely.  
"No" Fury said deep in thought, "Then what's he talking about then, you don't believe him do you?"  
"Give him some credit Agent" Fury sighed loudly pinching his nose for the umpteenth time as he turned to a female agent, conversing with her in short quiet sentences until the agent finally nodded, huffing as she stalked away. Fury began to follow in her lead leaving the doctor to retrieve more serums.

When the doctor finally returned, Tony's head was lopped onto his pillow.  
"I'm just going to inject some stronger sedative to get you to sleep" he said swabbing Tony's arm and placing the injection.  
"Ow, what's even the point of me having an IV if your not even going to use it" Tony winced. The doctor just turned and left and soon Tony felt his eyelids starting to get heavier and heavier until finally he slipped into an empty drug filled sleep.

…oOoOo…

"Stop hacking," Mylo said as she entered the building.  
"Hacking what do you mean hacking, I have no idea what your talking about?" the lady grinned.  
"You know exactly what I mean, now stop it before he traces it back to you and we both get in trouble" he sighed.  
"You are way too paranoid Milly and do you really think I would make it that easy! Jeez, I'm offended." Mylo just rolled his eyes, he knew she was just winding him up.  
"Just put your apron on" he chucked her the green cloth.  
"Fine if you're going to be like that, moody" she pouted.

* * *

**AN: Well that's the first chapter, not really sure about it but I've been developing this idea in my head for ages so I thought I might as well start it now even if it has been a year. ****This chapter was just having a bit of fun and mildly introducing my OC's in a less obvious way plus you gotta love sassy Jarvis.  
Thanks for reading, feedback would be great!**


	2. The awkward mechanic

**AN: Switches to different POV's a bit just to give more perspective, hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 2 – The awkward Mechanic

Ok, so in the past week the Avengers had defeated Reindeer Games, saved Manhattan from a nuclear bomb (ok maybe that was only Tony), fallen unconscious during Sharwarma (again, only Tony)… and said goodbye to two demi-gods. So to put it all in one nutshell: Yep just your average week.

"TONY GET UP" Pepper yelled  
"Why its only 8?"  
"You have the Avengers press conference today, remember?"  
"Oh right that, yeh sure I'll be up in 2 secs" he groaned into his pillow and in times like this words could not describe how much it sucked being the only publically available Avenger. "Ugh I hate life" he whined.  
"Get up Tony and wear something smart." Pepper replied chucking a pillow at him. Making him jerk upwards and walk off to the shower muttering something along the lines of… "Stupid Capsicle so much for team leader" and "Spy my ass."

Pepper just chuckled and went to get things ready for Stark, when he had finally dressed and replenished his coffee levels they headed out.  
"Wait you were meant to take your pain meds at 7"  
"Nah" Tony shrugged.  
"Tony there meant to help you get better, do you not want to get better?"  
"Oh calm down, the bruised ribs only tickle a bit now" he snorted.  
"Don't laugh what would have happened if they had broken, or if you fractured your skull or something! What if you had died!" she asked hysterically  
"… Then you would be living the most boring and ordinary life ever" he pulled her into a hug, it would seem Pepper had been bottling up her emotions again…

"I'm so happy you're here" she sniffled  
"I know, I know" he replied keeping her in the warm embrace  
"And you are such an inconsiderate jerk"  
"I know- wait what?" Pepper pulled away laughing as she pulled away from Tony's shoulder, he smiled gently.  
"Oh your shirts all damp now," she noted picking up her Stark pad to distract herself. After a few more awkward silences Pepper sprang up.  
"Now stop distracting me we're going to be late for the conference"

"Damn it you still remembered?" Tony moaned his master plan had failed once again.  
"Do you think I'm that stupid Stark?" Pepper laughed her eyes less puffy then before as she began to walk towards the lift only to turn around and realize he hadn't been following…

**"What's your real name!?"  
****"Do you think I'm that stupid Stark, I'm not going to tell you," **the conversation replayed in his head.

"Tony? Tony, hey stop being childish, if anything I'll just make the press conference longer" she teased snapping her fingers, but Tony still remained blank. She walked towards him and tried again.  
"Tony what's wrong?" and after still no response she cautiously poked his ark reactor causing him to gasp as if he had been holding his breath.  
"Jesus, don't do that" he puffed finally coming back to reality  
"Tony what happened?" she asked now concerned.  
"Oh nothing, just thinking. You know with the whole genius thing it's sort of in the job description" he responded his breath still a bit shaky, Pepper looked unconvinced so he put on his best award winning smile.  
"Come on Peps why are we slacking? Are you trying to make us late for the conference" he teased but his usual sarcasm was absent. He wasn't sure if Pepper noticed or not but he was glad when she didn't point it out, instead turning to lead him off.

…oOoOo…

"Mr. Stark is it true the Avengers initiative is actually a publicity stunt? Mr. Stark what happened to Loki? Where have you teammates gone? Are you gay with Captain America? Is Thor a god? Are you-"  
"AHHH SHUT UP" Tony yelled instantly silencing the reporters as millions of cameras blinked in the background.  
"Even if any of these questions did make sense do you really think I would answer them?" Tony looked around but none of the reporters said anything, "First off no the attack wasn't a publicity stunt, if you thought it was maybe next time you should try using your eyes. Next why do you even need to know it's none of your business! Also has none of it occurred that my girlfriend is sitting right next to me, do you really think she would let me steal Captain America's 95-year old virginity!  
As for Thor have none of you actually read the myths? So I don't know maybe he is God it's up for your speculation not mine." He finished downing his glass of water, silence still remained intact until finally a male reporter put his hand up.

"You better have a valid question…" Tony glared but the reporter continued

"So is it true that Loki gave birth to a horse?"  
"Are you serious?" Tony gaped, seriously what the hell was the press smoking?  
"No more questions" Tony stood up and walked over to the car and shut the door. "Mr Stark is done for today" Pepper stated before also standing up and opening the car doors.  
Tony shuffled over allowing her some space to get in so she could shut the door and silence the swarm of reporters with the sound proof barriers and tinted windows.

"I hate press conferences" Tony said and Pepper nodded in agreement… "Happy, take us back to Stark tower please.

And that is why the next day Tony forced the Avengers to move into Stark tower because he simply 'could not/did not want to deal with another conference like that'. The others didn't really mind because free food and free company was the most desired thing on all of their lists even if they weren't willing to admit it.  
Sure the council disagreed once they found out but who cared?

…oOoOo...

"Hello there how can I help?" Mylo stared at the questioning receptionist, was she talking to him? Never mind just keep walking he reminded himself as he plodded forwards until he reached a doorway to a Stark industries office block.  
A doorman blocked his path "Hello sir may I see an access pass?" Mylo struggled to yank the fake ID from his jeans but he eventually managed to show the man who then stepped back to let him through.  
It wasn't too hard from there as all Mylo had to do was follow some directions, so he carried onwards until he found a lift. But of course it only led up to the office floors of Stark Tower so Mylo pressed the highest floor available.

After he had stepped out of the lift he encountered a maze of corridors but he already knew where to go so he didn't care. He made sure to look around corners not particularly because he had to, more because he didn't want to have any more social interaction. He'd had enough of that for one-day thank you very much!

And so he twisted through the hallways until he managed to reach his destination, in less time than he thought (because he didn't have to worry about the cameras). And so he entered the location. Which turned out to be a small store cupboard containing an already laid out simple blue overall, a baseball cap to lower onto his face as well as a mechanics tool box. Just to look the part.  
Inside, too his relief, there was also a tiny slip of paper with more directions scribbled messily on it.

So putting on his disguise he started to read through the list and he carried on with his task.  
Eventually he turned to find the entrance to a private lift that led up to the Avengers Rec room, the Avengers themselves probably had some cooler entrance to the living quarters but it would look a little strange if a mechanic used them. So once more he pressed the button and the lift began to carry him upwards he began to get a horrible twisting in his stomach.  
A fluttering hope that no one was there and that everything would go to plan so he could just get out of there…

And to Mylo's luck, for once everything seemed to be fine, once the lift doors had opened he had made his way to the entrance hall.

_Sir, may I assist you?_

"Ahh" he yelled and it took him a while to realize it must have been Tony Stark's AI he had been briefed on.  
"Err no thank you, I'm just here to check up on the energy meter" he squeaked, damn why hadn't this been taken care of? He wondered so he reached for his phone and rang it as discreetly as he could he began to ring.

After the second trill she picked up, "Sup Mylo"  
"Shhh" he whispered, "I think Stark's AI is watching me, I thought you said you disabled it"  
"What Jarvis? Oh yeh I disabled him, what do you think of me!"  
"Then why did it just speak to me?" he asked but he already began to form his own answer.  
_"Duh, that was me"_ the British voice spoke, confirming Mylo's suspicions.  
"Ugh I hate you"  
_"No you love me really, haha what is this voice… I'm so posh now go polish a horse, peasant"_  
Mylo rolled his eyes again, "Just give me some directions already"  
_"Fine, go left through the 2__nd__ door which I've opened for you, it will lead you to the Avenger's main kitchen. You know what your welcome"_  
"Thanks Jarvis" he smirked  
_"Shut up Milly and get to work"_

He sighed, stepping into the rec room, no one was present, so far so good… He wondered round a little bit before he reached the kitchen unit noting a suitable location for the pinhole camera.  
So taking it out of his toolbox he picked up the tiny device before instantly dropping it about 5 more times as he tried to attach it to a cupboard door. He hated the fiddly gadget, why did he even have to install it anyway?

When he had finally managed to attach it he moved on to his main assignment, "Ok I'm really sorry" he added before setting to work on the kitchen device.  
Then after the deed was done he packed up his stuff, the Avenger's were meant to be out for the day at SHIELD, some meeting Fury had set up for them. But he heard the sound of clicking heels oh god he wished with all his might those stilettos didn't belong to Natasha Romanoff…

_"Hello Ms Potts"_  
"Oh hello Jarvis"  
Mylo who was slightly relieved but still annoyed, cursed under his breath and began to stride towards the exit managing to reach the high tech door. But it didn't open when he swiped it, "Now's not the time" he muttered angrily.

"Here let me help you with that" Pepper smiled as she slid her key card lifting the heavy metal. He looked back curiously but ran as soon as he caught her eye.

That was strange she thought but suddenly she heard laughter from the hallway behind her.  
"Oh there you are Peps" Tony smirked entering the room with the rest of the hero's trailing behind him.  
"Oh your back, how was your meeting?" she grinned back  
"Don't even go there" Clint and Tony sighed  
"Even spangles almost fell asleep" he waved causing Steve to frown, "I was just tired" he defended.  
"Whatever, anyway so how was your day Ms Potts" Tony smiled, for the first time in the last 5 hours, he was actually interested.  
"Well everything was fine actually, apart from that mechanic who came in… he sought of ran away when I opened a door for him but I don't know" she shrugged.

"Ahh of course he ran away, you're scary!" he nodded sarcastically picking up a Stark Pad and beginning to tap away. Not noticing Pepper's proceeds until she finally passed him smacking his head for good measure.

_Sir I think you should see this._  
"Ok, I'll be in my workshop"  
Tony continued grinning, "Try not to miss me"  
"Ah and why would we do that?" Pepper asked her eyebrow quirking up.  
"Oh don't lie" he smirked walking down the stairs away from view causing Pepper to pout. Oh how he loved winding up women…

* * *

**AN: Just realized that my introduction is kinda slow to start with but I promise that things will start getting quicker in the next chapter where Tony gets his comeuppance, barista style. Please leave some feedback so I can see what to do in the following chaps... **


	3. Coffee Break

**AN: Minor cursing due to Elexia being Elexia**

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Chapter 3 – Coffee Break

"Omg Mylo come here, you gotta see this"  
"Oh so that's why we installed those camera's…" he laughed

**AVENGERS TOWER**  
It was just 6:46 am when the wailing started, causing Steve to jump out of his bed, he was still wearing his pajamas but the non stop screeching made him run out into the hallway.  
_Sir I would not recommend entrance into the kitchen_, Jarvis said as Steve walked down the hallway.  
"I see no reason why I shouldn't go in"  
_I never said you can't, I simply would recommend you don't_, the AI replied  
"All due respect, but I would like to see what the wail-"

Clint emerged from inside the kitchen,  
"Hey Cap, you do know you're talking to a computer right? And you're not wearing any trousers.

"Look, you can come in- but I'm not going to lie, it's not a pretty sight," Steve just nodded and walked past Clint, and the sobbing grew louder until finally, he came across the quivering mess.

"THE COFFEE MACHINES BROKEN," Tony yelled, cradling the machine in his arms.  
Steve sighed and Clint laughed as he took his StarkPhone out and took a picture of Tony on the floor, "Really?" Steve began to chuckle.  
"How can you laugh," Tony looked up and started crawling across the floor "And YOU" he pointed to Clint's phone. "You have betrayed your fellow devices and have brought shame on your creator"

"Tony I need you to sign a few of these… Oh wow!" Pepper's stilettos clicked to a halt onto the floor of the Avengers rec room, when she looked up from her bundle of papers spotting Tony cradling the broken form of his coffee machine, again.  
"Maybe another time" she turned on her heels and walked back to the doorway.  
"Wait! Err Miss Potts" Steve called out, causing her to freeze and turn to face them again, only to blush when she saw Steve was only wearing a sleeping shirt and his boxers.  
"Yes err Captain, you appear, well you, you have no trousers on" she finished lamely.  
Clint just looked from both sides of the room, as Tony began to sing what seemed to be a lullaby.  
"Its hard to tell which one of you can blush the most" Clint smirked.  
"Barton that is no way to talk to a lady"  
"Save the lecture I was just making up for Starks lack of presence in this conversation" Clint shrugged.  
"And it's fine Steve" Pepper chuckled placing her papers down and walking over to Tony, she started tugging away the broken machine from his arms.  
"Let's just say he gets very attached to his machinery," she laughed disposing of the ruined tech making Tony hiss.

"Look I'll go get some coffee ordered up here to compensate" she said reaching for her Phone. When all of a sudden she found herself face to face with Tony, causing her to yelp. "Tony, what are you doing?" she asked.  
"I'm fine he said" suddenly remembering something, making him turn and run out of the room lamely.  
"Ok then" Pepper shrugged taking her papers back and walking out.

…oOoOo…

"Right Jarvis, track the location," he knew there was something off with that mechanic Pepper had seen yesterday. And so he grabbed his coat hanging from the back of his chair, slipping a tablet into his pocket as he went.

_I have narrowed down location, sending coordinates to tablet_, the AI replied. Tony reached for the gadget in his pocket and chuckled, quickly dashing through the lab door and then quickly ascending the flight of stairs were he entered the main room. He saw Pepper's beautiful face talking rapidly into her Bluetooth, he strolled over and kissed her on the cheek and she smiled at him before retorting back to the voice on the other end. He heard a wolf whistle as he snapped to see Clint staring at Tony and the thing that he was playing with Natasha. Who had suddenly paused the game so she could smack him in the head.  
"Yeh hawky! At least I know love when I see it" he smirked at Clint's crack in façade when a light blush tinged his cheek. Well that shut him up he thought turning to the bar counter.

Bruce Banner was pouring over hundreds of sheets but he looked up and met Tony's eyes. He smiled, as the two had both formed a close friendship over their science work through the past month or so. "Hey big guy, do you know where Spandex boy is?" Bruce shrugged. "Last time anyone saw you, you were a quivering mess how you feeling now?" Bruce teased.  
Tony shrugged, "Well I'm just dandy, want any coffee? I'm nipping off to Starbucks, do you want anything?" he smirked but Bruce began to frown "Something's changed Stark, what are you hiding, why did you say dandy?" Bruce questioned.  
"So I can't simply be kind! That hurts you know" Tony mocked banging his chest with his hand "You make me up to be some sort of arrogant, selfish, billionaire," Tony added with sarcastic hurt.

"Yeh, well all of the above then" Pepper smiled as she disconnected from her call and walked to the elevator. Tony ran up to her and hugged her from behind...  
"I'm going to Starbucks, you want anything?"  
"Nah I'm fine thanks Tony" She tiptoed so she could plant a kiss on his head. "Ok, See you later and take a break yeh?"  
"You know I can't take a break Tony, some of us have work you know" she lifted her hand up to her face striking a thinking pose. "Or then again, maybe you wouldn't" she grinned. Tony stuck his tongue out as the metal doors closed.

"So when can we expect mini Tony's running round the place?" Clint mocked receiving another harder slap around the head "Ok, ok I'll stop" he put his hands up in surrender. Tony just chuckled as he to snapped into realization; he rushed to the left and skidded down a corridor before reaching the stairs. Which he descended finally opening the door unleashing the cold breeze onto his skin.

"Seriously though Tasha, I think there's some secret those two are hiding… What if Tony was building a baby iron man suit all this time?" Clint added his eyes sparkling. Natasha smirked slightly, "You are unbelievable" she shook her head "Come on if you insist on me playing this game then the least I can do is beat you"…

…oOoOo…

It was early afternoon but the night air was already falling on Manhattan as Tony walked down the street passing more and more people warming hands on steaming coffee cups as he grew closer and closer to his destination...  
"Tony wait" Steve puffed catching up with him at last.  
"What's up Capsicle?" Tony asked.

"Everyone said you went off to a coffeehouse so I decided to accompany you, I think we got off on the wrong foot" he explained.  
"Ok" Tony muttered but he seemed distracted, no snarky comment, nothing.  
It wasn't until he saw the green symbol across the street that his focus returned.

…oOoOo…

"Elexia get out, Stark's across the street but Captain America's with him"  
"Shit" she cursed quickly grabbing her hoodie before throwing the green Starbucks apron at Mylo's face.  
Managing to pull on her clothing and flip down the hood, barely just making it out before Tony and Steve reached the pavement outside the coffeehouse.

"Stark what are you doing?" Steve asked as they entered the Starbucks, but he was silenced by Tony's hand as he waved his concern off. Instead looking at a tablet, "You" he glared pointing an accused finger at the Coffee worker, who so happened to remarkably look like the mechanic from Yesterdays security footage. Beginning to stride towards the counter he suddenly looked down, frowning "Wait she's on the move" he grumbled turning back to the door.

"Wait who?" Steve asked confused but his pestering was cut short when a young boy suddenly screamed.  
"MUMMY IT'S IRON MAN!" he yelled shortly after tackling Tony to the ground "Ahhh" Tony yelled as he then got tackled by several screaming teens. He reached for his tablet in the scramble "Avengers, hey!" Bruce looked at the video coming from Tony's gadget "Are you under attack?" he asked shuffling towards the video. "Yeh from several crazy fan girls" the assassins chuckled as Bruce breathed a sigh of relief.

Tony turned off, he knew they wouldn't help him and now what was he going to do! Why hadn't he put his hood up this time? He thought when suddenly he felt lightness… Steve Rodgers stood above him hoisting a teenage girl in the air.  
"Erm excuse me ma'am but we have to leave, Tony how far away are we from Stark tow-" but suddenly the girl squealed when she recognized him, the other girls also noticed and they rushed over to swoon at the captain. Tony scrambled away and managed to pull his hood over his head as he backed out of the door. The commotion spread and Tony saw the poor captain being hugged by millions of fans who had appeared out of thin air! Steve saw Tony staring at him from the shop window, he looked at him pleading for him to help out, but being Stark he saluted the Captain and made a run for it while Rodgers was forced down.

Tony ran for it, he would probably make it up to Rodgers for his kindness, but that was later not now. He really didn't like being tackled to the ground by screaming girls plus the Captain now got to have some good old quality time with his fans! Tony began to glance at his tablet but the next minute he ran into something, he glanced upwards to see a hooded teenage girl. Freezing on the spot he took a couple of seconds to consider his option before running full pelt back to the tower, out of sheer terror from being fangirled over again.  
"JARVIS, JARVIS let me in" he pounded on the glass after making it to the private entrance, eyes constantly darting to see if anyone was following him.

Eventually the door opened and Tony regained himself as he took the lift up to the main lobby. "Have you really been playing on the Xbox for the whole time I was out?" Tony asked when the lift doors opened to reveal Clint and Natasha still leaning on the floor twiddling with the controllers. "Huh, what?" Natasha asked before resuming the game and knocking Clint's player out. "Hah now I win again!" She smirked. Clint switched off the console grumpily "Hey I thought we agreed no rage quits!" Natasha glared at Clint who sulkily said, "I don't want to play anymore".

"You two stop squabbling" Bruce emerged from the entrance of the corridors "Tony have you seen Steve yet he set off after you?"  
"Ah…" Tony sighed "he may have got caught behind at Starbucks when I was meeting… Oh never mind" Tony started walking down the steps  
"What! Tony you left him behind?" Clint yelled after him.

"Not entirely I let him acquaint with his fans" Stark shouted back before locking the door to his lab so the other's wouldn't come in. "That man is up to something" Natasha said, Clint and Bruce nodded in agreement.  
"He was in defiantly rushing." The redhead added. Bruce pondered for a moment, "Wait you don't think he was trying to meet someone" Clint went wide eyed "You don't think that Pepper and…"

"Pepper and what?" Pott's voice rang through the room, her high heels clicking on the floor as she walked towards the three. "Nothing" Clint mumbled…  
"Clint what were you talking about?" she didn't take her eyes off his as she searched for the answer. Barton though she was staring into his soul! "Ok I'll tell just please stop staring at me like that!" Pepper smiled as she sat on the arm of the sofa that Natasha was sitting on.

"Have you noticed anything strange about Tony?" Clint asked.  
"He's always strange Clint, I gave up trying to notice anything ordinary about 4 years ago, if that's what you mean" she replied circling the fabric of the chair with her fingers. "Nothing new there to be honest"  
"Yeh but do you know what he's been up to lately?" his eyebrows furrowed.  
"God no! I honestly don't want to know what goes inside that mans head, might as well let boys be boys." She winked at Natasha who snickered knowingly, "No that's not what I meant, I mean what does he do down in his lab?"  
"You know if you're really are that interested, you could probably just go down the steps and ask him" she stood up and she started to walk away.

"He went to meet someone today" Clint blurted out as Natasha fought the urge to punch him in the face.  
Clint saw this and instantly wished he could take back his words "I mean I think…" but words failed him as Pepper remained frozen. She suddenly span around and took everyone by surprise when she grabbed Barton by the collar. "Who did he meet?" her anger started to fill her body, "I don't know" Clint stuttered taken aback by the force of her attack. Pepper growled in fury as she released Clint and stormed down the steps.

She hastily typed in the password for the door lock then she pushed on the glass doors, Bruce and the Assassins being the nosy people they were, also filed inside. Tony spotted the commotion of the entrance of the lab and so he pulled himself from underneath one of the vintage cars he had been working on. He grabbed an old rag and wiped off most of the oil from his hands as he made his way towards them. In front he saw Pepper and smiling he opened his arms to embrace her only to feel a sharp pain stretch across his cheeks were Pepper's hands had just left. "Ouch what was that for" he asked clutching his now swollen cheek.

"Why did you go to Starbucks?" she snapped.  
"Free country? Why not?" he shrugged but he already knew she wanted to find out something else… "Why didn't you just ask JARVIS to have it ordered and delivered like you always do?" she asked crossing her arms across her chest.  
"Ah well" but Tony couldn't answer the question, he sighed, "I was meeting someone!" and he saw Pepper's eyes begin to gloss. "No, no you misunderstood. It had nothing to do with that."  
"Explain" she demanded sitting down onto the sofa "Whom were you meeting then" she questioned.

"Please don't say I'm crazy!" Tony waved his finger indicating the sofa so the Avengers could also sit on it. Tony then pulled up a chair so it faced all of them...

* * *

**AN: Yes so I've now introduced my main OC Elexia and my other one Mylo, you'll see a lot more of them now because they have finally been introduced into the plot which is good because the play huge roles in it so yeh. Also many of the fanfics I've read so far have glossed over the whole public affairs thing so I thought I would set that straight.  
Please review, I would really appreciate any feedback and I would love to hear any suggestions or comments for this story.**


	4. Meet Ms Smith

Chapter 4 – Meet Ms. Smith

Elexia returned into Starbucks after the coast was clear, Steve Rogers was already storming back to Stark Tower and the fans had dispersed. It was probably the first time they had ever had a full house in the 3 days they had been working there…

"Ok so that didn't go to plan now did it" she sighed as she walked behind the counter as Mylo made a Frappuccino of some sort for a stray customer who was yet to leave.  
"No it didn't, do you think Stark will figure it out?"

"Well I guess we'll just have to wait and see" she frowned grimly.

"Oi boy, I ordered Strawberries and cream not this" the angry customer placed the cup back onto the counter waiting expectantly.  
"Wait one second sir" she spat in Mylo's defense picking a strawberry off the counter and throwing it so it landed slap bang in the middle of the customers forehead.  
"Get out" she said with a dangerously calm tone, confused and embarrassed the man puffed and kicked the door open before exiting, leaving only Mylo and Elexia.

"What was that Elexia! We're meant to keep a low profile, how are we going to do that if he reports us?" he fumed, but Elexia fiddled with a cup.  
"It doesn't matter anyway I doubt we'll be out of here in a few days time" she yelled  
"What are you suggesting?" he frowned.  
"I'm not suggesting I'm telling you, there will be no point staying here, are covers blown anyway". She huffed in annoyance as Mylo stopped fiddling with the till and turned to face her.  
"Hey Elexia, look at me. What's wrong? You know we have to do this" he tried to comfort her but as per usual her reaction didn't go the way he wanted it to.  
"Yes of course we have to do this, because I always have to do as I'm told," she snapped throwing her hoody off and violently opening the door.

…oOoOo…

Back in Stark tower the Avengers were still waiting for an explanation…  
"Fine, when we were fighting against Loki and the Chitauri I heard a voice. Hey, don't look at me like that Birdbrain" he pointed accusingly as Clint scoffed.  
"Tony…" Bruce aided, "Oh right yeh, well I mean someone had hacked into my suit system and she started talking to me through Jarvis" He could see the way Pepper tensed up but he carried on anyway.  
"She could see me and I know she was there but I couldn't find her. Then I spotted the alien thingy come down from the portal so I went off, she stopped talking and yeh…" Clint shuffled around as they all watched, he sighed again "And so since then I've been trying to track down and find out who she is, but I haven't been able to find any records yet" Tony finished; the Avengers and Pepper remained puzzled. "Oh she also knows about the palladium arc reactor problem," Tony added making the Black widow and Pepper frown.

"Wait" Bruce stood "What so you couldn't find who she was?" Bruce asked "Yeh" Tony answered.  
"But that's impossible Jarvis can locate anyone! And also no one besides a few select S.H.I.E.L.D operatives know about your past condition."  
"I know!" Tony nodded "Also Pepper, when you told me about the mechanic after I got back to the lab, Jarvis had informed me he had been hacked again. We managed to recover some pretty well hidden CCTV but we still couldn't trace the hacker. Only the mechanic so I figure he must be joined to it all. So I checked for any records of an appointment or booking with a mechanic but there weren't any made, at least not for yesterday.

So I tracked down his identity to see who he was and I found out he actually worked at Starbucks. So I went there today and it just so happened, Jarvis finally managed to track down the hacker's device, it was a weak connection which means they obviously know what there doing." He sighed  
"But I could have sworn it was linked to him somehow but the trace began moving when I entered and he was still there."

"Wait so there is defiantly something fishy about this mechanic person, what's his name" Clint asked once Tony had finished.  
In reply he strolled up to his desk and flicked up one of his virtual 3D holograms, which displayed a simple photo, and a few other details.

As soon as Clint saw the picture his face hardened and he stormed out of the room. The rest of the Avengers turned to Natasha but she shrugged in reply, obviously as clueless as they were.

"Ok then…" Bruce asked taking the opportunity to, "So are you still tracking the hackers device?"  
"Yeh I am, here…" he replied flicking another hologram which contained a blue map with a little blinking red dot.  
"Wait a second, Tony isn't that in the tower?" Pepper pointed at the light.

"What, yeh it is! Jarvis can you pinpoint the hacking device?"  
_Certainly Sir… I believe it is currently in the main kitchen_. Jarvis replied.

The avengers all looked at Tony before they quickly scrambled over to the door and ran upstairs to the rec room.  
"Hello" a female voice spoke out, she seemed to be doing something.

"What are you doing, aren't you the girl I ran into getting away from Starbucks?" Tony asked.  
"Yeh?" she answered turning around a cable in her hand. "That was incredibly rude of you by the way" she said as she span around.  
She had incredibly dark hair that fell at her side, piercing blue eyes with a smirk and stance to match, chuckling she turned back around and continued working on whatever she was doing.

The rest of the present Avengers stood their awkwardly shrugging at each other not really sure what they should do.  
"Jarvis who is she?"  
_Sir I believe she is the one has been hacking me, after all she does possess the hacking device_. Jarvis replied with as much amusement as an AI could possibly portray.  
"Ok then… so who are you?"  
"As I said before **I thought you were meant to be a genius**, I'm the one who hacked into Jarvis duh, was that not obvious? Jarvis wasn't it obvious?" she turned addressing the ceiling.  
_Indeed Miss Smith_  
"Wait, what Jarvis why did you respond to her!"  
_Sir, Miss Smith asked a question and one of my main protocols is too answer queries asked by..._  
"Whatever, that's beside the point, who are you and what are you doing here?"  
"I'm fitting in your freshly made coffee machine, Milly apologizes for breaking your previous one but it was necessary, apparently" she replied finally standing up to face them all.  
"Who are you?" Tony repeated…

"Her name is Elexia Smith, she works with Mylo Zolnerowich and they both work for S.H.I.E.L.D at their LA base" Clint answered strolling into the room, "That's why you don't recognize them Natasha" he added heading towards Elexia who scowled.  
"Fine spill all my secrets why don't you" she sighed sarcastically.  
"This isn't funny, why didn't you tell me about your mission" Clint asked, anger clearly written all over his face.  
"I'm not meant to, remember! You know the whole confidential government thing," she retorted.  
"We both know you couldn't care less about whatever level of clearance is needed to know about it. Why is that Fury had to tell me what was going on?"  
"I don't have to tell you everything ok, jeez!" she snapped.

"Erm I feel like we're missing something over here and is Milly Mylo or Mylo Milly?" Tony quipped raising his hand while Natasha glared at Clint.  
Clint sighed, running one of his hands through his hair, "It's a long story, basically when I worked in the LA base I had a mission and sorta met Elexia. And now Fury's sent her to spy on us and she didn't tell me" he glared.  
"Hmm, first of all I think the word you were looking for was 'sent her to **observe**', also would you believe me if I said I forgot?" she asked innocently.  
"And Milly's my good friend Mylo's nickname" she added looking at Stark just to try and confuse them all.

"Ok wait so you hacked into my suit because you were meant to spy on us?"  
"No Stark" Fury replied walking out from the elevator, "She wasn't meant to hack into your suit." Fury sent a reprieving look at Elexia who continued to glare him down.  
"So we were forced to adapt to the situation Ms. Smith set up, instead" he walked past them all and pulled open a cupboard door yanking out a bundle of wires which belonged to the camera Mylo had installed only the other day which sent distrustful glares to this mysterious girl.

"Her mission was to observe from a distance, that's why we based her and her partner at the nearest coffeehouse, so that when Agent Mylo infiltrated into the tower and sabotaged your machine, the lack of caffeine would have hopefully driven you out, after all Mr. Rogers wouldn't dare trouble Ms. Potts or any of your assistants to bring you beverages" Fury said coolly.  
"Talking of which, where is Mr. Rogers?"  
"He had already set off before me **Sir**" Elexia replied coldly, clearly not happy with the circumstances...  
"Wait so you risked a tiny percentage on me going out to the local Starbucks due to coffee deprivation which I might not have even had, why?" Tony asked but was completely ignored by the two in the middle having a very intense staring match.

"We'll debrief Rogers later, as of now I appoint Elexia as your assistant Ms. Potts, at least this way she can't get into anymore trouble" he glared at her with his good eye before storming out.  
"What that's so unfair" she moaned kicking the nearest object which resulted in a sore foot.

"So then, what do you do?" Natasha asked trying to break the tension.  
"Erm I hack I suppose and I know a bit of hand-to-hand combat but the rest came from the SHIELD basic training. They didn't teach me anymore because I'm only a data collecting agent" she sighed rubbing her foot.

"What did you use to hack into Jarvis?" Tony asked which seemed to change her demeanor as a grin stretched across her face, as she rummaged in her pocket pulling out an iPod before chucking it over to Tony.  
"Guess iPods aren't as bad as you thought," she sneered.

"You got to be kidding me," Tony laughed but the look on her face showed she was 100% serious. He was still in awe as Natasha turned to face Clint.  
"You worked at the LA base before you met me" Natasha stated. "That was over 11 years ago and you must be what like 18?"  
"Erm 20 actually" Elexia sighed knowing where this was heading.  
"So you met her when she was like 10?"  
"9, but that's a story for another day," she shrugged, Natasha pursed her lips but she knew she wouldn't get anything out of her today so she turned to Clint raising an eyebrow.  
"Sorry Natasha the girl has spoken" he shrugged causing her to scowl.

After a few more seconds of awkward silence Pepper came over, stretching out a hand trying to bring some normalcy to the conversation, "Hello Ms. Smith I'm Pepper Potts, welcome to the Avengers Tower" she smiled. Elexia reached forward and shook her hand returning also with a small smile, "Just call me Elexia, also sorry about all this" she said.  
"No it's fine I've been looking for an assistant ever since Natalia" she chuckled as she glanced over at Natasha who surprisingly smiled a little. "It's good to have a few more girls in this tower, now excuse me I need to catch up on some paperwork"  
Elexia nodded and watched as she walked out leaving her under the glare of the rest of the Avengers.

"Ok, I'm going to go back to Starbucks to have one last latte, if that's ok with you guys" she stared around awkwardly.  
"Oh yeh sure" they replied so she turned to leave, opening the elevator before disappearing.

"That was weird" Bruce said rubbing his forehead, "Yeh it was, now come on aren't you gonna help me see how she hacked with this" Tony held the iPod away in disgust. Bruce laughed agreeing so that they both led there way down back to the workshop leaving Natasha and Clint alone.

"What aren't you telling me Barton" she started again, and he opened his mouth to speak only to stop when the Captain came in. They both looked at each other for a while, Natasha noticed the sudden understanding the two men seemed to share.  
"So where were you Captain?" she asked  
"Er, I decided to have a shower after you know" he spoke but his focus was elsewhere.  
"Well I'll make sure Stark learns his lesson" she smirked.  
"What?" Steve asked dazed.

"You know for leaving you there at Starbucks?"  
"Oh right yeh" he answered clearly distracted, making Natasha storm out to prevent herself from ripping off both their heads. She hated not knowing things that they were obviously keeping to themselves.

…oOoOo…

The next morning was frantic to say the least...  
"What are you wearing?" Mylo asked looking as Elexia as she struggled to put on her black heels without ripping her pencil skirt.

"Clothes" she replied bluntly.  
"Yes I can see that but why? Actually no don't answer that I said it wrong!" Mylo hurried but Elexia had already stood up.  
"Oh would you prefer if I wasn't wearing them?" she teased dramatically throwing her blazer off as she began chasing him around the S.H.I.E.L.D issued apartment, not surprisingly tripping over seeing as this was the first time she had even worn heels. But Mylo caught her before she hit the ground, "Oh how romantic" she sighed making Mylo blush before dumping her unceremoniously on the floor.

"Stop making me awkward" he yelled, "Oh but dearest Milly, you already do that yourself!" she laughed finally stopping.  
"Oh god I need to do something" she realized looking at her watch rushing over to the computer in the middle of the room.  
"What are you doing?" Mylo asked.  
"Is that all I ever get asked these days?" Elexia asked dramatically making Mylo laugh, "Yeh, duh".  
"Fine if you must know I'm printing something off" she said and true to her word the printer started whirling away. Feeding out at least 4 pieces of paper.  
"What's this?" he asked picking several up… How to be the best assistant, he read "Seriously?"

"Shut up I need that" she grabbed the paper but Mylo pulled it from her reach… "Step one always smile, really?" as Elexia tried to reach up, even with heels she was still a little on the short side; Mylo chuckled before lowering it enough for her to get it… Snatching it out of his hands she pouted  
"Oh don't do that, your meant to smile" he laughed causing her to scowl even more.

"Go away Milly, why are you still here anyway, weren't you told the whole covert thing failed?"  
"You don't like my presence Elexia? I'm hurt," he mocked, but she just glared at him "Sarcasm doesn't suit you".  
"Whatever, also yeh I was about to tell you, I'm being called back to work in the Manhattan base" he replied suddenly dropping the light mood.  
"When?" she asked as she looked into the mirror and carefully lined her lips, "Next week I think".

"Oh,"she grabbed snapping her lipstick shut as she stalked out "well say hi to Sarrah for me" before slamming the door. Mylo knew she hated working for S.H.I.E.L.D even more than she hated being alone, not that she would admit it of course...  
Yet he knew there was nothing he could do, at least this time, maybe she would find the task better?…

* * *

**AN: Okidoki there's chapter 4, I'm a bit stuck on the next few chapters as I'm yet to decide on a plot or adventure that will fit together my beginning with the end I have already planned. And so I know not many people are reading this but if you can, I would really appreciate if you popped some feedback or suggestions in. If you have any ideas for the upcoming chapters please tell and I'll do my best to incorporate them, thanks...**


End file.
